Scientists suggest that asteroid impacts created hot, chemical-rich environments that could have kick-started life on Earth. A new review led by recent Rutgers graduate Shea Cinquemani highlights impact-generated hydrothermal systems as potential cradles for life's building blocks. These systems may have persisted for thousands of years, providing ideal conditions for early biology.
Shea Cinquemani, who earned her bachelor's degree in marine biology and fisheries management from Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences in May 2025, led a scientific review published in the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering. Co-authored with Rutgers oceanographer Richard Lutz, the paper explores how meteor strikes could have formed hydrothermal vents similar to those in the deep sea but powered by impact heat rather than volcanism. Cinquemani began the work as an undergraduate assignment in Lutz's course on hydrothermal vents, initially focusing on Mars before expanding to Earth's early conditions. The review underwent a rigorous peer-review process with 15 pages of comments over five rounds, Lutz noted, praising her perseverance. These impact sites created lakes with warm centers where mineral-rich water circulated, fostering chemical reactions. Cinquemani examined three craters: the Chicxulub crater beneath Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, formed 65 million years ago; the Haughton crater in the Canadian Arctic, about 31 million years old; and Lonar Lake in India, created around 50,000 years ago. These systems could last thousands to tens of thousands of years, long enough for simple molecules to form complex structures, she said. Early Earth faced frequent impacts, making such environments common, according to the research. Lutz, who explored deep-sea vents in the submersible Alvin decades ago, said scientists have long discussed vents as life's origin but impact-generated ones offer new insights. The findings could guide searches for life on Mars, Jupiter's Europa, and Saturn's Enceladus, where similar hydrothermal activity may exist. Cinquemani, now a technician at Rutgers' New Jersey Aquaculture Innovation Center, emphasized humanity's curiosity about origins: 'We may never know exactly how we began, but we can try our best to understand how things might have occurred.'